Sitting on the plane at terminal 3 Heathrow at take off, I think to myself "Well that's it now! No going back, bridges fully burned!" I'd given up a well paid job, rented out my house and said goodbye to all my friends and family to go off and teach English in Sudan for an academic year as a volunteer. Some may say now my mid-life crisis is finally complete, although if my friends and family thought that, they sure hadn't said as much to me. I've been completely bowled over by all their warm wishes and support. At least if it all goes horribly wrong I have come at it from a safe, secured place where I am loved and will be able to count on everyone's support. I feel so lucky yet humbled by the thought.
I meet up with Billie, another SVP volunteer at Cairo Airport, where we have a 4 hour delay. On our descent into Khartoum the small child next to me vomits all down my right side! Welcome to Sudan! As if it's not humiliating enough arriving in a new country smelling of toddler puke, customs then decide to search one of my cases. I wrack my brains to think what I have in that particular case and hope to god they don't bring out anything too embarrassing!
Then By the time we finally make it out of the airport Bob and Omar have been waiting in the heat of the midday sun for several hours. They escort us to our Taxi, and I want to laugh out loud - The taxi would not have looked out of place in your average English breaker's yard - the doors barely close, the seats are all ripped and my two suitcases are flung onto the roof rack and not secured. Still at least this helped prepare me for Khartoum itself and the luxury of the SVP flat. Many of the streets of Khartoum are nothing more than dirt roads, buildings are pretty ramshackle in the main and rubbish is everywhere. We pull up outside a building in a bustling side street, and climb three stories up to the flat. I am mortified at this point as Bob and Omar insist on carrying my extensive and very heavy luggage all the way. Little do I know at this point that in a couple of days time they would be insisting on carrying it all down again when we relocate to Momin's house!
The flat is pretty basic and the furniture is a little worn, if Kim and Aggie were to turn up they'd be a little horrified about some areas, but on the plus side there is air conditioning in the sitting room and the beds are clean and very comfortable. We later discover that the flat is donated by a local business who sponsor SVP. SVP relies on it's sponsors, friends and supporters to keep the operation afloat as it is a very modest charity with few assets and what money it has is ploughed in to attracting volunteers and financing the programme.
Once inside the flat we are greeted by Paul, our coordinator, who fills us in with some background and essential information. Exhausted by the combination of the trip and the extreme heat, Billie and I go for a lie down.
When we wake up refreshed later on, Paul takes us across the road for a traditional Sudanese meal of "Fuul", which is essentially a bean stew, with egg and cheese added to it. This is my first opportunity to try out my "eating with my right hand" which I had been stressing about before I arrived, desperate not to cause offence.
The next day we are introduced to Shafaq, a lovely Sudanese girl, who works with SVP helping to orientate volunteers on arrival. She takes us out on a shopping trip for essential items like local SIM cards, phones, dongles and most of all - petticoats! My mum had asked me before I left if I had any - so Mum you'll be pleased to know no ones' looking through my skirts out here now! During this shopping trip out in the midday sun, we take a bus to Omdurman Souk. It's only our first day we have had quite an adventure already!
The trip proves to be a little too much too soon, so Billie and I retire to bed with headaches. After a nap I feel refreshed again and awake to new voices in the flat - Andy, the next of the volunteers has arrived. Later on Paul, Andy and myself venture out to a nice restaurant where I have a delicious meal of Nile Perch. Unfortunately Billie is suffering with a touch of sunstroke and is not up to joining us.
The heat is stifling as we lay in bed attempting sleep. Eventually I manage to drop off and am awoken in the early hours to the sound of a new voice in the flat. I am too exhausted to bother investigating so it is some hours later that I meet Jess, the latest volunteer to arrive. After Billie and I are up and showered we all pop out to get some breakfast. We then spend the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon vegging around the flat until Bob and Abu Bakr arrive to take us to Momin's house where we are going to be staying from now on. They have quite a struggle getting all our combined luggage into the boot of the car and at one point in the journey the boot pops open and Abu Bakr gets out at the traffic lights and slams it shut again! When we arrive we are greeted by a very cheery Sudanese man who welcomes us to his home and shows us our new accommodation. Here we have a pleasant bedroom which opens onto a courtyard off of which there is a small kitchen and another room with a fridge and some seats in. Before leaving us for the evening Shafaq shows us the shop next door, which we later christen "Tesco Express," and Egyptian House. Once we've settled in we head off to Egyptian House in search of food. Luckily there is a lovely Ethiopian chap who speaks good English, who sorts us out with a large Pizza to share and a coke each. As we come through our new front door a man follows us and cheerily asks if he can come and live with us. I don't want to be rude to him so I just laugh and say no, but he is most persistant, "please just for an hour," he pleads. I'm about to shut the door in his face when he laughs and introduces himself as Momin, our host. The cheerful chap we'd met earlier turned out to be his brother Fadili!
I meet up with Billie, another SVP volunteer at Cairo Airport, where we have a 4 hour delay. On our descent into Khartoum the small child next to me vomits all down my right side! Welcome to Sudan! As if it's not humiliating enough arriving in a new country smelling of toddler puke, customs then decide to search one of my cases. I wrack my brains to think what I have in that particular case and hope to god they don't bring out anything too embarrassing!
Then By the time we finally make it out of the airport Bob and Omar have been waiting in the heat of the midday sun for several hours. They escort us to our Taxi, and I want to laugh out loud - The taxi would not have looked out of place in your average English breaker's yard - the doors barely close, the seats are all ripped and my two suitcases are flung onto the roof rack and not secured. Still at least this helped prepare me for Khartoum itself and the luxury of the SVP flat. Many of the streets of Khartoum are nothing more than dirt roads, buildings are pretty ramshackle in the main and rubbish is everywhere. We pull up outside a building in a bustling side street, and climb three stories up to the flat. I am mortified at this point as Bob and Omar insist on carrying my extensive and very heavy luggage all the way. Little do I know at this point that in a couple of days time they would be insisting on carrying it all down again when we relocate to Momin's house!
The flat is pretty basic and the furniture is a little worn, if Kim and Aggie were to turn up they'd be a little horrified about some areas, but on the plus side there is air conditioning in the sitting room and the beds are clean and very comfortable. We later discover that the flat is donated by a local business who sponsor SVP. SVP relies on it's sponsors, friends and supporters to keep the operation afloat as it is a very modest charity with few assets and what money it has is ploughed in to attracting volunteers and financing the programme.
Once inside the flat we are greeted by Paul, our coordinator, who fills us in with some background and essential information. Exhausted by the combination of the trip and the extreme heat, Billie and I go for a lie down.
When we wake up refreshed later on, Paul takes us across the road for a traditional Sudanese meal of "Fuul", which is essentially a bean stew, with egg and cheese added to it. This is my first opportunity to try out my "eating with my right hand" which I had been stressing about before I arrived, desperate not to cause offence.
The next day we are introduced to Shafaq, a lovely Sudanese girl, who works with SVP helping to orientate volunteers on arrival. She takes us out on a shopping trip for essential items like local SIM cards, phones, dongles and most of all - petticoats! My mum had asked me before I left if I had any - so Mum you'll be pleased to know no ones' looking through my skirts out here now! During this shopping trip out in the midday sun, we take a bus to Omdurman Souk. It's only our first day we have had quite an adventure already!
The trip proves to be a little too much too soon, so Billie and I retire to bed with headaches. After a nap I feel refreshed again and awake to new voices in the flat - Andy, the next of the volunteers has arrived. Later on Paul, Andy and myself venture out to a nice restaurant where I have a delicious meal of Nile Perch. Unfortunately Billie is suffering with a touch of sunstroke and is not up to joining us.
Lovely to read about your trip Helen. Fear not, I am not a cyber stalker, am the mother of the gorgeous lovely Billie!
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best wishes
Yvette
Thanks! I'll try my best to post regular updates!
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